The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon. It is believed that there are many uses for plant oil including, but not limited to, uses for health, beauty, recreation, etc. For example, without limitation, the consumption of some plant oils may aid in promoting cellular health, may help to lower cholesterol levels, may boost the immune system, may help fight chronic inflammatory conditions such as, but not limited to, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. In addition, some plant oils may be used as additives in cosmetic and skin care products such as, but not limited to, soaps, lotions, lip balms, etc. Some individuals claim that various different plant oils may have specific therapeutic properties suitable for different skin types or conditions; for example, without limitation, lavender oil may help soothe and heal sunburns, coconut oil may help moisturize the skin, argan oil may provide anti-aging benefits, etc. Due to the assertions of these benefits, one can expect that the cost of and demand for commercial plant oils with respect to health and beauty purposes may be high. Furthermore, many plant oils, particularly those from herbs and flowers may be used to scent various different items such as, but not limited to perfumes, candles, cosmetics, etc. Yet other plant oils may be used for mechanical uses including, without limitation, as lubricants or as biofuel.
By way of educational background, an aspect of the prior art generally useful to be aware of is that there are currently some processes and apparatuses available for extracting oil from plants including, without limitation, large commercial operations and small scale DIY methods. For example, without limitation, one embodiment teaches a device that peculates a solvent over herbs or other plant material. Then, the solvent may eventually evaporate from the system. In other methods, plant oil may be obtained by thrashing and boiling plant materials in solvents, which are typically flammable. This may enable the solvents to evaporate into the atmosphere, which may, as in other methods in which the solvent evaporates into the atmosphere, cause pollution and may create a fire or explosion hazard. Moreover, these processes may be wasteful as the solvent that evaporates into the atmosphere typically cannot be recovered for reuse and may also leave excessive unwanted residual solvents within the final product. There are also some currently available extractors based on super critical butane or carbon dioxide at high pressure, which are typically not safe for home use. Furthermore, these methods of solvent plant oil extraction may be time consuming and typically require many steps and parameters and many opportunities for mistakes such as, but not limited to, spills. Also, these methods typically utilize mechanical mixing, which often does not produce optimum amounts of oil.
The product of solvent extraction may be referred to as concrete, which is typically a semi-solid mass obtained by solvent extraction of fresh plant material. This product may also be referred to as plant oil or earth grease.
In view of the foregoing, it is clear that these traditional techniques are not perfect and leave room for more optimal approaches.
Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.